Chair.



,No. 635,644. Patented Oct. 24, |899. D. J. BIGELDW.

CHAIR.

(Application led July. 17, 1899.)

' (No Model.)

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UNTTED STATES AyTnNT rrrcn.

,DON J. BIGELOW, OF MEDINA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO S. A. COOK & OO.,

OF SAME PLACE.

CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 635,644, dated October 24, 1899.

Application filed July 17, 1899. Serial No. 724,112. (No model.)

T @ZZ Lohan/t t may concern:

Be it known that I, DON J. BIGELOW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Medina, in the county of Orleans and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chairs, of which the following is a specification.

The improvements which constitute my present invention relate to chairs having xo backs which are adapted to swing or be inclined relative to the seat of the chair; and it has for its object to improve the tension or spring-operated mechanism whereby the back is brought to a certain normal position.

I have usually applied this invention to a style of chair in which the seat is :supportedV in a rocking frame, an example of such chairs being illustrated in my Patent No. 564,361, dated July 2l, 1896, and in the drawings aczo companying this case I have illustrated the invention as being applied to a chair of this type. It should, however, be understood that the invention is adapted for use upon many different styles or types of chairs having swinging or reclining backs.

The accompanying drawing is a side Viewv of a chair provided with my invention, part of the framework of the seat being broken away.

In such drawing, A designates the station- 3o ary base or supporting-frame of the chair,and B a swinging or rocking frame, upon which is supported the seat O.

D represents the back, pivotally connected to the seat-frame near its rear edge E, the arm-rests, and F the upright arms or links, pivoted at their lower ends to the frame B and at their upper ends pivotally united to the arm-rests, the latter beingin turn pivoted to the back.

G represents slotted sides or connectinglinks arranged between the uprights F and bolts or pins h, carried by the seat-frame, and upon which pins or bolts are mounted the set or clamping nuts II.

The parts so far described are of well-known construction and operation and need not be more fully described.

The upright arms or links F are continued for some distance below their pivotal connections f with the frame B, as represented at f',

and a stiff cross rod or bar I connects the parts f of the opposite uprights F.

Two horizontallyarranged coiled springs J J are connected with the cross-rod I. These springs are preferably arranged close to the inner sides of the side bars b of the seat-frame, to which they are secured. They are thus hidden from viewand are so disposed as to eX- ert their tension upon the rod I and through it and the arm upon the swinging back in the most advantageous manner.

Several important advantages are incident to a construction such as I have described and which I will now set forth.

It is well known that the force exerted by the springs in order toproperly restore the chair-back to normal position differs considerably in different kinds of chairs, depending largely upon the manner in which the back is upholstered, and hence the weight which is given to the back. It has heretofore been difficult to properly regulate or adjust the springs to the work which they are required to perform in restoring the chairback to its normal position. Bythe construction which I have described this is easily accomplished, as the cross rod or bar I may be 'attached to the lower portions f' of the uprights F at points nearer to or farther from the fulcrums or pivots f of the uprights, ac-

cordingas it is desired that the springs should exert relatively little or great force'when the back is moved. I am thus enabled to use for many different styles of chairs springs of a single size and stiness, the difference in the 'effectiveness of the springs being governed in the exceedingly simple manner describedthat is, by attaching the cross-rod I to th uprights at the proper points.

Another advantage incident to this construction is that the springs are hidden from view and no additional and heavy-appearing parts are added to the framework of the chair to secure such hiding, as was necessary in the construction shown in my aforesaid patent, where the springs were vertically disposed.

Another advantage incident to the use of a stiff or rigid rod connecting the two uprights of the chair-arms and to which cross-rod the IOO .sp1-ings J are attached is that should one ot the two springs from any cause be unduly weak or unduly stiff the joint action of the two springs will nevertheless be transmitted to the two uprights F substantially equally, and hence the objection incident to unequal spring force being applied to the opposite arms and to the oppositesides of the back is avoided. The objection just referred to is incident, in a greater or less proportion of cases, in chairs where the springs are independently connected with the opposite arms, and while the disadvantages incident to such conditions may not be immediately apparent they develop in unduly rapid wear to the chairs and looseness of parts.

Another advantage is that such a chair as I have described is sim ple in construction and can be cheaply manufactured.

lVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination with the scat-frameand the swinging back, of the arms connected with the back, each formed with an upright piece, F, pivoted to the seat-frame and extending downward beyond its pivotal connection with the seat-frame, a cross bar or rod uniting the upright pieces of the arms below their pivots, and a spring for restoring the back to its normal position attached to said rod or bar and to the seat-frame, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a seat-frame and swinging back, of the arm-rests, the upright pieces,F,and the horizontally-arranged coiled springs, J, J, connected with the said upright pieces, F, at points below their pivotal connection with the seat-frame and also with DON J. BIGELOW.

Witnesses:

MYRoN A. PosT, GEORGE A. AMES. 

